


turn on a dime

by dakhtar



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Coran Coran The Gorgeous Man, Gen, Implied Child Experimentation, Insecure Lance (Voltron), child!lotor, everyone else but in supportive (aka tiny) roles, implied canonical torture (aka what haggar did to shiro)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-22 00:03:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14925554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dakhtar/pseuds/dakhtar
Summary: During a routine mission, Lance runs into a small child with far too familiar features, and realises that he absolutely - unequivocally - cannot leave kid Lotor (Lotor!a part of him screams hysterically) behind.Especiallynot with Haggar.





	turn on a dime

**Author's Note:**

> *arrives two hours late with coke and bloodshot eyes* whaddup folks, guess what??? Ramadan is almost over, Eid is almost here, and I've got two more bangs I need to get cracking on. That, and I haven't updated mostly void, partially stars/seawolf in a damn long time <\- blame ramadan. But here! Have kid!Lotor being adorable because I love him and will fight all naysayers, plus Lance and the very good kitty Red.
> 
> Written for the [lance flash bang](http://voltronbigbang.tumblr.com/post/169743935055/pow-pow-a-lance-flash-bang-welcome-to-pow), with amazing, wonderful, spectacular art by [gerryiscool91](http://gerryiscool91.tumblr.com/post/174364430558/partaking-in-the-lance-flash-bang-as-an-artist-it)! (I'll also embed the actual image in the fic, because it's perf and I love it. edit: i have failed in embedding the image. forgive my foolish self. edit edit: it works! i have succeeded!)

“Hello,” said the young boy, polite as polite can be. “I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

Lance stared, flabbergasted, at the tiny purple child, at the pointed chin and familiar silver hair. Lotor – because that’s who the small _child_ was, holy _crow_ – stared back at him, neck craned backwards to make up for the height different (the _height difference_ , Lance hysterically thought, holy _quiznak_ ).

“Uh,” he stupidly replied, “I’m Lance.”

Lotor stared unblinkingly at him, face cherubic in a way that made Lance feel _very_ uncomfortable, because no hell spawn of Zarkon should be _cute_. “I am Prince Lotor,” the kid introduced himself, announcing his title with all the gravitas of his older self. “Are you here to kill me?”

Spluttering in shock, horror forced a strangled, “No!” from Lance’s lips. “God no!” He repeated, instinctively dropping to his knees in a move he hadn’t practiced since _home_. “I’m not going to hurt you, little guy. Why would you think that?”

The small child – six? Definitely no older than seven, at least – frowned at him, lips pulling into an adorable pout. “I’ve found that unfamiliar faces around me tend to try to as-,” he stumbled, “-sinate me.” Lotor finished stubbornly.

Lance held back the urge to coo, ignored the rumble of amusement that echoed in his mind from the Red lion, and frowned right back. “That’s horrible,” though not surprising. “But I’m not here to kill you. In fact,” he confided, knowing that he was about to say something stupid, something _he could not say-_ “I’m here to protect you.”

Red _roared_ in laughter, loud enough to almost distract him from the confused way Lotor mouthed _protect_ like it was a new word. That dampened Red’s good mood, plummeted Lance’s own as the Galran battleship shook from another hit.

He couldn’t leave the kid here, couldn’t leave _Lotor_ even if he’d been older and decidedly more murderous. He knew Shiro would shout at him ( _again_ , a voice whispered in his mind), knew Allura would be disappointed. But-

-he just _couldn’t_.

Red threw something like pride his way as he stood up. The kid was still watching him, back straight and posture perfect in a way no child should ever be.

Decision made, Lance pulled up his map and plotted the best course to his lion. Red helped him, promising to fly somewhere closer, and Lance sent back his gratitude.

“We should go,” he told Lotor, the kid’s eyes widening as he hefted his rifle. “This ship won’t hold much longer.”

Lotor nodded, seemingly okay with following Lance (and didn’t _that_ say something) and moved to follow him to the door.

Before they could reach it, a familiar, cloaked figure stepped through, blocking the way. Haggar, eyes glowing, took them in, and behind Lance, Lotor stiffened.

“Ah,” the druid rasped, “what have we here?”

Lance raised his weapon, training his sights on her, internally panicking as he realised there was no way _he_ could take her on, not if even Shiro and Allura had struggled against her.

“The ship is being attacked.” Lotor stiffly told her, small hand rising to tightly grip Lance’s hip. “So I have decided to follow Lance to safety.”

Haggar laughed, a low, cruel noise that scraped down Lance’s spine, the primal fear threatening to choke him. She floated further in, Lance inching back in time, keeping her within his sightline and Lotor out of _hers_. “The paladins shall not take you to safety.” She croaked. “They are enemies of the empire, enemies of _yours_. Only I can keep you safe.”

The small hand on Lance’s hip tightened in fear, though Lotor refused to show it past the slight tremble of his lips. “You always hurt me,” he whispered quietly, the words drenching Lance in ice cold. “And nobody stops it.”

“All to make you stronger,” Haggar agreed, her sharp teeth bared mockingly. “I should’ve began the experiments years ago, when you’d first been this small. No concern. I’ve returned you to this age. I can make you the prince you should’ve been, Zarkon’s pride. Strong. Just like I made the Champion strong.”

Lance remembered Shiro, frozen in the training room, pale and shaking from a flashback. Shiro, hunting for any memory he could get of his time as a prisoner, of all the torture and experiments so he could find his crewmates, help Pidge find her family.

And she’d done those experiments? On Lotor? On _this_ Lotor?

Lance saw _red_.

The witch dodged the first barrage of laser fire, gliding easily out of the way with that unsettling laugh of hers. He ignored the surprised yelp Lotor gave as he picked him up, swinging him onto one hip. The extra weight didn’t bother him, didn’t unsettle his balance as he lunged towards the door, the open space Haggar had deserted when he’d fired.

He knew he couldn’t beat her, not cargo pilot Lance who _paled_ in comparison to his friends. But he wasn’t going to leave Lotor behind to Haggar’s _experiments_. He wouldn’t have even if the prince was his older self. But he didn’t need to beat her. He just needed to _leave_.

The scream that followed him as he burst into the hallway was unearthly, goosebumps rising all over his skin. Lotor whimpered into his shoulder, clutching Lance tightly as the Cuban _sprinted_ to where Red urged him to as purple beams of quintessence shot past him.

Fire slammed into his back, pain blinding him for a moment, but the Red Lion _roared_ in his ears, the metal wall in front of him _crumpled_ , ripped through by her teeth. Lance felt the air in his throat get stolen by the void of space before he and Lotor (screaming, _terrified_ , Lotor) were swallowed whole by safety.

He fell to his knees, Lotor yelping as Lance failed to hold him. He found himself on the warm ground of Red’s cockpit, found he couldn’t bring himself to sit up. He thought he heard Lotor, calling his name, thought he felt small hands shake him.

Thoughts fuzzy, Lance’s eyes slipped shut, soothed by the gentle rumble of Red’s thrusters. He trusted she’d take them home and keep Lotor safe, from Haggar, or the team.

“Co’an,” he mumbled, pleased when he felt her acknowledging hum. “He’s goo’.”

And he slept.

#

“Paladin,” Lotor started, stopped, paused. “… Lance.”

Lance looked up, eyebrows crawling to his hairline as he noticed Lotor – older, taller, sleeker Lotor. “Uh,” he said stupidly, mouth open, “Yeah?”

The half Galran hesitated, his shoulders hunched, unusual for someone so usually confident. “I… wished to give you my gratitude. For- for saving me. From Haggar.”

Lance put his spoon down awkwardly, wondering when the team had begun to trust Lotor to walk around unsupervised. Maybe after the whole Mark of the Chosen thing?

It had already been a while since the whole kid-Lotor thing. A while since Coran had whisked a quietly crying Lotor to the medical wing and refused entry to anyone but Hunk, carrying an unconscious, injured Lance. A while since the Altean had found the cure and an older Lotor had escaped quietly in the night without triggering any alarm.

Lance wondered if all that had played a part in Lotor’s offer of a deal after the whole Naxzela thing. Had wondered if Lotor had even remembered anything from back then, when he’d been small and expecting to be killed.

Guess now he had his answer.

“No… problem?” He awkwardly answered. “That was a while ago, dude. Consider it forgotten.”

Something rippled over Lotor’s face, but the uncertain slant of his shoulders straightened, the hesitance bled away to that proud look his younger self had echoed.

“Nevertheless, blue paladin,” the renegade prince insisted, spine straight. “I am still grateful. If it had not been for you, I would have-” he halted, face twisting into a grimace at the possibility of what could have been. “Allow me to show my gratitude, paladin.”

Lance frowned at him, confused and irritated in equal parts by the insistence. “You don’t have to. I would have done it for anyone. But!” He added on quickly as Lotor geared to interrupt. “If it means a lot to you, then fine, whatever. You’re welcome.”

Lotor looked pleased, lip quirking to show a pointed tooth. “Excellent,” he preened, turning to the door he’d entered through, motioning Lance to follow. “Allura has informed me of the new broadsword you’ve gained. Come, I shall train you on how to use it.”

Spluttering, Lance quickly began to deny that he needed training, but Lotor ignored him, leading the way to the training room like he’d been raised within the castleship’s hallways.

Allura was such a traitor, he thought grumpily, ignoring Red’s laughter rumbling within his mind. But… he’d seen Lotor with his sword. Maybe he could actually learn something that would be of use to the team.

Yeah, he thought to himself, rushing to keep up with Lotor’s longer strides. He could do that.

**Author's Note:**

> for the low, low price of $5.99, you - yes, you! - can join me at my [tumblr](https://na-jaax.tumblr.com/)! join now, while the offer's still fresh!


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